


I'll Come Home in Time

by julietlovestory



Category: Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Everything is pure and holy and good and Klance, Happy Ending, I wrote this at 2 am., Lance has a bucketlist!, Lance is HAPPY, Lance sees the ocean for the first time after years, M/M, cheesy af, chessy guys, first fic, klance, probably last, vague mentions of the team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 20:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8503885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julietlovestory/pseuds/julietlovestory
Summary: Lance is finally back on earth. It took too long. Way too long. Years. But finally he was standing in Varadero Beach. He could die happily now, he thought. Zarkon defeated, back at home, he had just seen his mother's face and Keith? Keith was asleep in his bed.Yup. He could die now.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First fic on A03, moving on from FF to here, see how it goes! Anyways. This is all feelings and Klance. I just love Lance and Keith. AND LANCE. He’s my favorite child and I want him to be happy so that’s why I wrote this fic where he’s with Keith on earth in the ocean. BECAUSE THAT’S ALL I WANT FOR HIM. SO THAT WHY I WROTE THIS. LANCE IS BACK ON EARTH, IN VARADERO BEACH, WITH KEITH.  
> And that's literally it.  
> Hope you like it.  
> English not my first language guys but i think I did good.  
> Based on two songs (see: if you are curious) Say you wont Let Go-James Arthur & Home-Madeon.

When Lance saw the ocean for the first time after who really knows how many years...he cried. He didn’t even bother to hide the tears.

He had thought he would never see it again.

When he and the rest of the team were trusted with saving the universe he had never imagined how long it would take to come back. Hunk had told him, right? One time a few many years ago. They had just been in space for a few days and Lance was already thinking about earth and how long would they be staying there. Lance was still trying to grasp they were this… warriors, defenders of the universe. Humans with lions as spaceships living in a castle with aliens. It all seemed like a very strange dream. Sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder… when would it be over?

_“Who knows when we will be home again?”_

_‘If ever,” Hunk had said._

_“What do you mean?”_

_‘I mean, if this Zarkon guy had been the ruler for ten thousand years how long do you think it will take for_ us _to fix it? You know, if we live!” Hunk said shrugging, and while he didn’t look that much affected by this Lance had dropped his eyes to the floor._

_"Yeah… right,” Hunk’s words repeated in his head for years after that._

And Hunk had been almost right, it took long, way too long, being a defender of the universe took years out from his life. A title he was given without being asked first; a hero.

Despite what Allura thought of them as her Paladins, or what Shiro often reminded them, hell, even what he bragged about with every alien who was willing to listen to him and his babble…Lance had never felt truly a hero. True, at the beginning everything was new; he fell in love with it and was in sync rather quickly. The drill was exciting. His life in space was exciting. Rescuing people, fighting alongside his friends with Blue. He had thought it was impossible to love a machine but Lance loved Blue with every fiber of his body.

For all the confidence he showed he was never a confident man himself, he could lie and fool anyone around him, anyone but himself. When he was fourteen he used to lie awake at night thinking about all the girls he wanted to impress, all the friends he thought he needed, and then, at sixteen when he joined the Garrison, he wondered if he would ever achieve something… _anything_. That's when they moved him to a Cargo Pilot.   
And when Blue chooses him, when his lion decides to wake up after _thousands of years_ because of _him_ … Lance finally got the reassurance he needed to feel special.

Worth.

However, after a while, he felt like he was in this repetitive, infinite loop. Days began to blur together in space. Everything was the same. He trained, he fought, he whined, he flirted, and he almost died way more times than he could count. More times than even Coran could keep track of.

Lance learned that in space, in this life that he led now there were very few things that could stay constant. Or in fact, quite the contrary, everything was exactly the same, even when things changed. Different planet, different culture, different Galra ships, different battles, but it was all the same drill. It took a while but he came to terms with it. Somedays were better than others and after years he got used to it.

That never meant he liked it.

And he knew. He knew that from everybody on the ship he had the hardest time.

Because fucking hell he missed home.

He missed his mother, and his siblings, and his beach. He missed all the little things he never even cared to think about before. He missed his bunk bed in his shared room with Benji. He even missed Benji’s soft snores. The way his sister would yell at him when he was a child and did something reckless. He would have given anything to go back for a day. To hear the soft voice of her mother singing in Spanish while she cooked. To go out with Hunk in a little escapade to the city to eat some pizza that was more grease than bread just because they could not stand another day imprisoned in the Garrison with its awful tasteless food.

And God he missed the ocean.

When he was seventeen he realized there were very few things he loved as much as his family and those things were the ocean and space. Two complete, different things and Lance thought he was lucky because he would always have both. The space; the stars, the sun and planets, all of it forever present in the Garrison, in his missions, where he could learn about the stars and ships and engineering. A way of life. His way of life. Being a pilot.

And the ocean, where he could go and spend his days with his family, to relax, to surf, to lay on his back with the cold water surrounding him and look at the sky with the sun caressing his face.

Best of both worlds right?

And then Voltron happened.

He grew up, way too fast, way too quickly, from teenager to a man. A man who could fight, who could use a weapon, who could kill but also show mercy, one who could definitely laugh despite the circumstances.

Even with all the good and terrible things that he had to endure saving the universe, things that changed him… he was still at the very core Lance Mclain, a man her mother would be proud of.

  
Now, _finally,_ he was in Varadero Beach. His beach. In space, he always referred to Earth as his. From all the planets he saved and all the civilizations he came to know, he loved Earth the most because his heart always belonged here. His house. His family. His beach. His siblings. All his.

He breathed in and out, enjoying the salty scent of the ocean, even fresh air was something he would never take for granted again. He looked at the horizon, the day was about to start and the dawn was breaking. The sun could not be seen yet but the light was making lazy and beautiful patterns in the water already, and so, he waited, expectant. Afraid to breath to hard dare this be a dream.

He was alone, he had gotten up a few hours ago in his house unable to stay still, way too excited to see the ocean to really have a good nights’ sleep, he had made his way out quietly, doing his best to not wake up Keith, then he had taken his forgotten surfboard from the garage and had walked along the beach for a while until he reached his favorite spot. No houses, no civilization. Just the ocean, vast and deep, and magnificent at the front and the forest behind him.

He watched as the stars died to give way to the soft light of the morning. He could see and hear the waves collapsing against the shore and he almost went for it but he refrained himself, he wanted to see it first, he wanted to see the deep blue of the ocean that he had thought would never see again. It was slow at first, like the world was slowly waking up but after a few minutes the light got brighter and brighter until the sky was illuminated with soft hues of all colors, and before Lance's eyes morning came. His toes curled on the sand when he saw the sun peeking over the horizon. He let out a sob and clasped his hand over his mouth once the sun illuminated an orange path on the dark water. The sky was a now a palate of colors, going from red to pink to lavender to soft blue. And the water, the water was a vast light blue.

It was beautiful.

In a daze, he walked to the shore and finally he felt the cold water of the ocean against his feet. He had imagined this a thousand times and yet he shivered, marveled at the feeling, so foreign and at the same time so familiar. A bubble of a chuckle escaped him before he laughed. He laughed almost hysterically, or at least Lance thought he did, in fact, he just made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob that would have been almost embarrassing to hear.

  
He didn’t know how long he stood there, just watching, feeling alive for the first time in so long. His heart was beating so fast in his chest he thought he was dying until his brain worked out for him that this was happening. It was real.

“I’m home,” He whispered, just like he had told his mother yesterday, but this time he truly believed it himself. He was home and for all that was holy he wasn’t going anywhere. And he laughed, it was slow at first, it bubbled from his chest and then into the warm air. He cried and finally, he yelled, raising his hands over his head. “I’m home!” He yelled to no one.

  
He enjoyed the air in his long a second longer before running back a few meters, he picked his--until now--forgotten board and ran back again. He almost fell in his hurry but he made it to the ocean as a wave welcomed him. Lance swore that if he died right then and there he would die happily.

He didn’t bother to even try and ride a few waves, he just swam and splashed around, diving until his lungs couldn't take it anymore, enjoying every second his lungs burned. He took each huge breath of air in almost reverence. He had missed this more than he thought. He straddled his surfboard and stared at the rising sun with a silly smile on his face. He was happy that he was alone. He must look like a lunatic by now.

But one thing he learned was that _honestly_? Who fucking cared about what people thought anymore? His family would never mind and his team would never, _ever_ make fun of him for this, so, in Lance’s book, fuck everybody else.

He didn’t know how long he was there, hours maybe, the sun was high in the sky when someone called him from the shore. He turned around with his surfboard and Lance had to correct himself.

  
Alright, _now_ he could die happily. He grinned and waved, the man in the shore waved too before signaling him to come to him.

Lance floated there, his arms balancing him on the surfboard as he gave one last look around him. He felt the water pressing against his legs, and he engraved in his memory every shade of blue of the ocean, he looked behind to the horizon where the two things he loved the most met; the deep blue of the ocean with the pale blue of the sky. He grinned to himself and nodded, he felt like crying again, the ocean and the sky were two constants that he was glad would always stay the same, no matter the world.

Another yell and he rolled his eyes, chuckling under his breath, “So impatient, that never changed,” He muttered happily to himself and finally he swam to the shore, he was there in a few seconds. When his feet touched the bottom of the beach he dragged his surfboard along with him, pushing his hair out of his face with his free hand as he walked to the man with crossed arms waiting for him.

Even if his posture indicated he was a bit irritated his face told Lance otherwise. Keith had a light in his eyes Lance never thought Keith could own. He was wearing one of Lance’s old shirts, shorts, and his hair in a ponytail, but the best thing he was wearing today was the light smile plastered on his face. It was not a smirk, no. It was a simple yet beautiful smile. The kind of smile that throws people off and Lance was no exception this time.

Lance realized that this was the smile he wanted to see for the rest of his life. Not that he would tell Keith that. The idiot wouldn't let him live it down.

“Hey,” Keith greeted once Lance was within hearing shot. Lance shook his head like a dog to get dry as he unceremoniously dropped his surfboard to the sand floor. 

“Hey,” Lance said as he finally stared at Keith, unabashedly. Keith raised his brows waiting for him to say something—ponytails and shorts were always a topic with Lance—however, he didn’t, so Keith rolled his eyes, looking at him up and down before looking at the horizon. Hands in his pockets.

“Your mother has been looking for you, you missed breakfast, had to tell her you went out early,” Keith said easily but when he got no response out of Lance he shrugged, “Did you catch a few waves? Did your ‘awesome body memory’ work?”

Keith scoffed softly but Lance, again, did not react. Keith sighed and shook his head, so unlike Lance to be this quiet, but then again Lance had been waiting for this moment for a long time so he understood. He really did. If there was something Keith was good at was understanding Lance. (Well, most of the time...) So instead of ruining the moment he chose to stay quiet too, he walked the few steps that separated them to be able to stand beside him, facing the blue infinite water, after a moment Lance turned too so they were both side by side staring at the ocean, shoulders brushing slightly. The soft wind ruffling their hair and clothes.

They had been on Earth for two weeks now, but between the Garrison finding out they had returned, press conferences, and everything in between, it had been impossible to escape even if all they wanted to do was to get away from all of it. Finally, Allura and Shiro had managed to get everybody a month off from everything, ignoring journalist, appointments at the Garrison, and interviews. The second they were free everybody went home.

Of course they all booked plane tickets on the same day, “Old habits die hard,” Allura had joked. And giggling, and joking, and marveled that they were home, they had all gone to the airport together even though no one even had the same flight.

The first to go was Hunk who returned to Hawaii. He had already sent them a hundred pictures of him and his family; they were all invited in two weeks from now, his baby sister, not a baby anymore, was getting married and the whole team was going.

Shiro and Allura had been next, they had gone together to visit his family in japan, no photos from Shiro’s part, but Allura had managed to learn how phones functioned and had sent them text messages telling them all about it.

Pidge had been almost too eager to board; she just wanted to take her whole family home and rest. ‘'And enjoy internet connection!" She had screamed. Yep, Pidge, or Katie now, was now going home with her father and brother included. After never giving up hope on finding them, Pidge had managed to finally reunite with them, they were injured, traumatized maybe, but alive. A part of Keith will always feel guilty about thinking them dead. Pidge waving them goodbye at the doors—with unshed tears in her eyes— with her parents behind her (her mother flew the second the news of her family being alive reached her) was a sight that warmed Keith's heart.

The last ones to get into an airplane had been Keith and Lance. Lance whined the whole time about that but Keith let him get away with it with just a roll of his eyes. _Of course_ Keith had been the one to go with Lance, in fact, the latter didn’t give Keith much of a choice.

“I can stay,” Keith had told him late at night the day before taking their flight, “I don’t want to… intrude or anything, it’s your family Lance.”

“You are coming with me, and that’s final and I swear to God that if you ask again I’ll punch you, pretty face or not.” Lance said with a soft voice, actions betraying his words as he hugged Keith closer, pushing his hair out of his face to stare at him with a looped smile. It did something to Keith’s stomach when Lance looked at him like that. Keith was always left a little bit speechless and with a racing heart on his chest.

His relationship with Lance had always been honest and real to him. It took them a couple of years but finally, after realizing they were not exactly angry with each other but in love, everything clicked. And even though the start was clumsy, and awkward, and they still fought—for God’s sake, they fought about who got to sit on the window’s seat!— Keith was undeniably, deep, madly in love with Lance. And after years of mental preparation and doubts he had come to understand that, well, _yeah_ , he was in fucking love with this man and he would be for the rest of his life.

End of story.

It was exactly for that same reason he had been a bit anxious about coming back, somehow he had expected this to be different for them now; coming back to Earth meant facing different demons, families, and pasts Keith wasn’t sure he wanted to come back to. Would they be able to stay the same? He had been _almost_ reluctant to go back. What if Lance found someone else? What would he do then? Just thinking about the mere idea of Lance leaving him made Keith's heart ache painfully. So much that on the days before the arrival Keith would find himself awake at night, nervous for something his soul told him was uncalled for. 

Lance loved him, Keith knew this, and yet...

  
One day on Earth, one day, and Keith realized he had worried over nothing. Because Lance? Lance had gone through all that like if he had _prepared_ for this. They were not the same, _they were better._

Labels were not very important for them in space; mates, boyfriends, partners, soulmates. However Lance chose to refer to Keith didn’t matter as long as it meant they were together. And now on Earth Lance was no different, he called Keith his in every way possible, with words or actions, however it suited him best; he held his hand when walking down the street, he brings him coffee before starting a long interview at the Garrison. He sits beside him and when he's nervous he takes his hands under the table.

He kisses him on the cheek good morning and goodbye no matter the place or who is staring. He flirts with him in the middle of lazy social interviews while the rest of the team roll their eyes, and Keith laughs merrily at his antics.

It has been a long time since Lance had managed to somehow erase that moody broody attitude of his. So Keith, even though still gets flustered, had kind of accepted his fate. Lance was an idiot and so he would have to deal with that. Besides it was part of his charm.

Another thing Lance still did, even when they were with a group of people, was calling him Love.

He still blushed. _Madly so._

“Keith, _Love_ , it’s been years!” Lance would say dramatically and Keith will shove him away with a scoff but both were secretly happy about that. Pidge had told Lance that the day Keith stopped blushing even she would be concerned.

Keith smiled at the sight of the ocean as he remembered how; somewhere in the middle of this crazy life they had led (fighting Zarkon, protecting the universe, living one day at a time) Keith had fallen for Lance and like a miracle, like his last wish come true, Lance had fallen for him.

In space their relationship only needed the approval of basically five people, now, being on earth, Keith felt incredibly nervous. He wanted the approval of Lance’s family, even _he, Keith Kogane_  was nervous about how that would go even when Lance told him a hundred times already that they would love him.

“And even if they don’t I love you enough like for the twenty of them,” Lance winked and Keith had almost shoved him out of the bed.

“I'm serious, Lance!”

“So am I!”

So, they had taken their airplane and finally Lance was home. It was all hugs and tears and warm and cries and smiles and laughs and everything at once Keith felt too much, and to his amazement, he was received with the same enthusiasm. He was hugged more times in a day than in his entire life and everybody was calling him ‘cuñado*’ already even if he didn’t know what that meant.  
Lance smiled at him as he carried his nephew in his arms with a knowing look, ‘ _See? I told you they would love you’_

It had been an emotional reunion and they had spent the whole day at the McClain house, Lance talked about his adventures in space while he ate the food his mother had been cooking all day for him. He caught up with the latest news. Benji was married now and had moved out, his sister had three kids, the twins had managed to start a business and were doing well and Daniel, his older brother, had moved to Canada when his wife died—Lance didn’t know what to say to this, but Daniel reassured him it had been years since her departure so it was alright.

His father had a heart attack but survived it, the more Keith heard the more he realized how many things Lance missed, and by the look on his boyfriend's eyes he knew Lance thought the same. He wasn’t here for any of this. He had missed weddings and funerals but nobody held it against him and Keith knew it would take a while for Lance to finally realize he was actually home.

It had been late at night when finally his mother had pushed them both into Lance’s old room—bunk bed gone and Lance threw a fit over this— telling them to get some sleep. Keith and Lance, however, stayed up, curled together, tracing soft lazy patterns on each other’s skins talking in hushed tones about the recent events.

“I still don’t get to see the ocean,” He had almost pouted and Keith kissed him softly, chuckling at the sight of a grown up man pouting.

“You will tomorrow,”

That’s why when Keith had felt him stir in the middle of the night he had pretended to be asleep because he knew exactly where Lance was going. If Keith knew something was that Lance is the kind of man that would wake him up if he wanted to, God knows Lance had woken him up before for the silliest of things –“C’mon is raining! Let’s go out!” “It’s like three in the morning on this planet Lance!” “IT’S RAINING _PURPLE RAIN!_ ”—, so he respected his wishes when Lance moved gingerly out of Keith’s arms and leaned on the bed to kiss his temple, whispering he would be back soon before stepping out the door.

Keith had tried to give Lance as much time alone as he could, however, when Rosa started to get preoccupied for her son a bit before midday Keith offered to go and fetch him.

“If Lance is still Lance,” Benji had said with a smile, giving him directions to the place he thought Lance would be, “He will be in his favorite corner of the beach,”

Benji had been right because Lance, of course, was still Lance.

“It’s really beautiful… ” Keith said as he finally moved his eyes away from the waves to stare at Lance and smirked, “Your beach that is,”

Lance hummed, however, he was staring Keith, not the ocean,

Keith raised a brow with a suppressed smirk,“You alright there?”

Lance finally snapped out of his stupor and nodded, he laughed and Keith smiled at the sound.

“Alright? I’m _more than alright_ , Keith. My heart feels like it’s going to explode!! Have you seen the ocean?! Is so _blue—“_

_“So observant.“_

“—And the sky! And my Mama’s food is as great as I remember and I have like, five new nephews that are so in need of his Uncle Lance! And just… _Alright_?! I’m afraid that if I blink I might wake up in the lion castle again.” Lance finished in a hurry, a smile plastered on his face, “I seriously could die right now and be happy about it,”

Keith shook his head, clasping Lance’s hand and intertwining their fingers together, he was cold and his hand was still wet but he didn’t mind. “You had a list with a hundred things you wanted to do once you came back and you have done like, what? Five? You can’t die, McClain,” Keith internally shoved that thought away, if there was a God he would make sure Lance never died, the world would be a horrible place to live in without him. Not that he would tell Lance that. “Not yet anyway,”

Lance hummed, “Speaking of which, I’m about to cross number one,”

Keith hummed distractedly, “See the ocean?”

Lance was never a secretive kind of man, he tended to talk with Keith about literally everything, sometimes the only way to shut Lance up was by kissing him, somehow both were always content with the result, however, when Allura told them they were finally going back Lance wrote this list that he had only shared with Hunk.

Lance’s Bucket list ' 100 things to do on Earth'

Keith had asked once about it and Lance had said it was a secret. Keith didn’t even bother to look for the damned list because, well, he would find about it soon enough.

Number 77 had been eating shitty pizza with Hunk. For that one the whole team, Allura and Coran included, had escaped the Garrison to eat shitty pizza in the same place Hunk and Lance used to go as students. It was still terrible and greasy and somehow Lance was happy about that.

Number 34 was going to the movies with Keith.

Number 11 Had been going on an actual date that didn’t suck with Keith.

Number 2 Had been visiting his family.

So Keith had assumed that number one had to be the ocean. He could not think about anything else that Lance could have written first. He felt his phone vibrate in his shorts and he sighed, that was probably Benji, or Rosa, or Daniel. Lance had not bothered to take his phone but he did. They had been waiting for him all morning and Keith’s gave a long sigh. He didn’t have the heart to drag Lance away from the ocean but he could promise to bring him later, maybe the whole family would join.

“This is my favorite spot on earth, did you know that?” Lance finally said and Keith turned towards Lance when he tugged at his hands, “But it’s not my number one, on my list that is,”

“What is it then?” Keith asked mildly annoyed, “If you tell me something stupid, I swear—“

Lance tugged harder, pushing Keith to his chest as Lance caught his lips with his. They tasted salty, exactly as ocean water and Keith couldn’t help but kiss him back. This is exactly how Lance should taste. Like sun, sand, and beach and salt and something definitely Lance that his memory had come to identify as solely his.

Keith wrapped his arms around him, not minding getting wet, since he had been in a relationship with Lance—In space!—there were little things he actually minded anymore. Lance’s other hand rested on Keith’s neck to hold him steady.

After too long and at the same time to soon they departed for air but their foreheads were still touching, breaths mingling together and Keith smiled. Joy filling him seeing Lance like this. Lance smirked then, ruining the romantic vibe for a moment as he held Keith’s head on both his hands.

“Number one was kissing the love of my life where the beach meets the sky.” Then Lance winked, “The three things I love the most in the same spot. That was number one.” He then raised a hand and made a ‘v’ in the air, “Check”

Keith was flustered for a moment, _love of his life?_ That was new. Before he could control himself he chuckled under his breath. Only Lance could pull things like this off and get away with them.

“Are you--are you laughing? After I just confessed this? You were dying to know about my list!” Lance said amused, however, he did not move away and eventually he laughed a bit too, “Way too cheesy right? But I’m being honest, that was the first thing I could think off when Allura told us we were going home.”

“Somehow I’m not surprised,” Keith said he kissed Lance’s forehead, and then moved back, blinking in mock confusing, “I’m oddly moved by it, still trying to figure out if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“It’s a good thing, man. Besides you love me being cheesy even if you roll your eyes like one hundred times a day,” Lance chuckled as he walked away to retrieve his surfboard.

“I don’t roll my eyes at you,” Keith said before agreeing a bit, " _that much_ anymore, fine, "and when Lance returned, surfboard tucked under his arm, hair dripping wet pushed back and alive vivid eyes Keith found himself smiling again.

“So? Should we go? I’m starving,” Lance started to walk when Keith took hold of his free hand.

Lance turned and he saw the resemblance of teenager Keith for a moment, a blush covering his face but his eyes firmly set on Lance’s, a smirk on his face.

“Oi, want to check your number one again, Cargo Pilot? Just, you know? For good measure? Since you never do anything right the first time,”

“Oh, It’s so on, Mullet Man,”

And this time Lance laughed, dropping his surfboard as he brought Keith’s face to his to kiss him soundly. Both smiling in the kiss like when they had first kissed in the spaceship a few years ago.

Everything was exactly as it should be, Lance thought as he tugged Keith closer.

The sky above him, the ocean sounding in his ears and his lips connected with Keith’s.

Yep. Lance could die happily now. But number 21 on his list was adopting a child, so, for the benefits of this, he realized he could wait a bit longer, even if it was just to see the shocked look on Keith’s face when he announced him this.

**Author's Note:**

> If you read this far thank you!! and lots of more Thank you's and hugs!! Please leave a review to know how it went?  
> And for some reason I keep getting kudos? So I corrected all the awful grammar mistakes. (I think)  
> -Juliet'lovestory-


End file.
